Wednesday, 3 February 2016

Easypeasy food shopping

Hello. I've been reading about a new food store that has opened in South London, by Stelios of Easy Jet fame. His plan is to undercut Lidl and Aldi by selling everything at 25p during February, he calls it an introductory offer. Afterwards it is said that everything will double in price and be sold at 50p. Here is a link to the Easyfood web site, which lists all the items on offer, and here is a shopping list of some of the items taken from the Daily Mail.. Hundreds of bargain hunters descended on the store and it has had to close down due to selling out. There is a notice on the web site saying it will be open on Friday after re stocking.

The Cash and Carry that I go to has similar items on sale, a lot of processed and snacky foods. I am very picky about what I buy there. Only the odd items which I consider are part of a balanced diet. I reckon the largest part what I eat is made up of fresh fruit and veg with salads and dairy. My very small store cupboard of tins and packets only comes into play when I am running down the contents of my fridge, or for quickness when I fancy beans on toast.

I would be interested to know how many items on the above list would you buy. How big is your store cupboard?

I'm not sure if Mr Stelios will be expanding his Easyfood empire. If he opens one in North Lincolnshire, I might pop in when I am passing, just for the odd item or two.

28 comments:

There is not much that I buy on the list, tinned tomatoes and baked beans I get at the same price or less, tinned peaches I have a tin as a standby. Tomato puree I do buy, but a good quality one and like you would not waste my money on cheap tea or coffee. My store cupboard is not huge but I could go several weeks with out buying anything but dairy, fresh fruit and veg. I could live happily without the dairy but not the fresh stuff, tinned and frozen do not do it for me.

I had to convert 25p to 36 cents, so those are very good prices in the U.S. where I live. I would be stocking up on the canned tomatoes since I use them in the winter for chili, soups etc. The cheapest that I have found tomatoes and tuna is 49 cents on sale. I would buy the beans too. Not sure about the other items though. Are ginger nuts, cookies?

It isn't a healthy selection for needy families and I'm sure it will be no better value than Aldi and Lidl when the price doubles. It would be great if they did fresh fruit and veg.I doubt there will be a store anywhere near me. It is 8 miles to my nearest Poundland.

The owner has pointed out that this is not food for the health conscious. It is food for people who literally have no money, not people who are choosing not to spend money. It's for people who are one step away from the food bank. It is food that makes the difference between being hungry or not. It's not for picky people.

Of course if people are able to get better food for the same money, some would and some would not. Access to cheap food is not the same everywhere, it differs according to where you live. People also vary in terms of how much cooking knowledge and even cooking facilities or utensils they have. Some people are lucky if they have a single saucepan, others if they have a microwave. It is quite common for people to have no cooking facilities at all. I know because I used to volunteer for a charity who supplied the items that the judgemental among us take for granted that everyone has. They don't and they are not routinely supplied.

At 25p many of these items are a steal, when they go up in price, less obviously so. It is hard to choose appropriate limited stock for hungry people. It's food to get people over a bump, not provide a long term dietary plan for optimum health. Sadly, it is apparent that poor people don't deserve that. Vegetables are nutritious but don't fill you up for long and don't provide energy needed to sustain all your bodily requirements. So it is appropriate to be carb heavy. The owner also pointed out that he has to have stock that isn't perishable to cut down on wastage.

In one of the photo's I saw there were two people carrying out one of those big Ikea bags full to overflowing with food. That must have cost a lot of money. People weren't just picking a few items to tide them over, they were coming out with dozens of the same thing, and paying with plastic.

They were talking about the shop's purpose and intention. Of course there would be people abusing the offers, that's bound to happen. Just like a crowd around the reduced section in a supearket, most of whom could afford to pay full price but don't want to. The fact you "saw people with those big Ikea bags" doesn't make what this person was saying any less true. And for all you know they could have a large family to feed, so could have needed that much to get them through the month.

After viewing the list, I have to say there is little I would buy--maybe the canned tomatoes if they didn't have a lot of sodium or added sugar. I don't eat processed foods; only eat cheese on weekends; and I don't ever buy cookies, crackers or canned fruit. I'm a bit fussy about my mayo and tuna too and don't like instant coffee. So I probably wouldn't shop there, but I'm sure there are many families with lots of kids who could benefit.

FYI, We just started getting Aldi markets here in the states. I've been in a few times

Nothing on that list for me either and I shop Aldi and the local veg stand every week for fresh things and basics like laundry soap. The prices in the US are higher but compared to other stores Aldi is still the least expensive. It occurs to me that many people buy processed and crap food because it is cheap and they don't have basic cookery skills or they live in places where stores with better quality and fresh items are not easy to get to. The items on that list with a couple of exceptions will make a person fat or sick if consumed all the time.

Tinned tomatoes would be the only thing I'd buy - I normally get Aldi's premium ones at 35p so not a massive saving.

I have siege mentality when it comes to rice, pasta and tinned staples; I buy loads of chick peas, butter beans, black eye beans etc. when they are on special offer (Asda often does a four tins for £1 deal). It all lives in the cupboard and eats nothing, so why not. :)

Chick peas, tomatoes and kidney beans caught my eye but once it goes up to 50p they can be so much cheaper elsewhere. Most of the rest is highly processed junk food. Where's the fresh stuff, where's the flour, etc?J x

Hi Ilona, I'm a label reader, I might buy the tomatoes - depends what else is in there, but wouldn't buy anything else, I prefer good quality loose leaf tea, and I generally only buy fresh fruit and veg, prefer sea salt for the little I use, and my tuna brand is Sainsburys (I find some other brands taste rather salty). Years ago I was incredibly poor but got by on good fresh food bought as cheaply as possible. If I was in the same financial state today I would take a look at maybe beans and tomatoes, then shop around. I've always been as concerned about what's in the food I eat as well as how much I am being asked to pay for it. Stelios is after all a business man, I reckon he'll expand his empire. I doubt I'll be making him richer though! Elaine

One or two items on that list I might buy. Like you Ilona, I can't do cheap coffee/tea. Cheap mayo can be nasty too. I only buy one brand of ketchup as it's a false economy for me to buy cheaper brands as it just gets wasted, same for beans. The value supermarket ranges aren't much more than 25p sometimes and the pound shop sometimes does 3 for a pound, so hardly any difference. My store cupboard is only a double wall cupboard due to tiny kitchen but it's full. I also have a chest freezer in the garage which is full after Christmas. I could manage for a couple of months apart from milk, fruit, etc. That's what I've been doing - using up and trying to save the pennies towards a little hol in April.

There's not really anything on the list that I would buy. Cheap tea and coffee are just awful, and I never use instant coffee anyway. I never buy chopped tomatoes, (tinned plum toms are cheaper, so I chop them myself). I always buy 'Kania' tomato ketchup from Lidl, it's better than Heinz. So, I fear Stelios won't ever be getting a share of my hard earned cash!My store cupboard is enormous, far too well stocked probably, but I got the habit from my mum. She was thirteen at the start of WW2, so after years of rationing, and then not having much money, she built up a large store cupboard as soon as she could afford to. My dad used to call it her siege cupboard, and now I have one too! I do keep a close eye on the stock though, things are used in rotation, and nothing ever passes a use by date! Every so often, we have a couple of weeks when we buy nothing but fresh milk, fruit, and veg, living from the freezers and store cupboard. As I tend to splash out a bit when things we use regularly are on offer, and keep them in store, it probably saves money in the long term!

Its an interesting idea but I'm with you. The only thing I would buy is the tinned tomatoes which I currently get for 33p. H won't eat cheap beans, biscuits are a occasional treat, H likes posh jam that he buys once every few months. I think we are the type of people who treat ourselves occasionally but when we do we buy something pricey. If that makes sense.

A question for you please. Where do you get chickpeas and lentils from at a good price? We are not veggie but are trying to cut down meat to every other day. Thank you.

The only things I would buy would be the peach slices, tomato puree and chopped tomatoes. Although I buy tuna for Ginger he will only eat the chunks not the flakes, I think they get too salty in the brine when they are all flaked up, so I don't blame him.

I think he's being as clever as the pound shop guys, in that people like a set price point whether it be the introductory 25p or his standard 50p per item for lots of things. If you have little money and are working your way round a shop adding up as you go along to make sure you can afford the bill at the end, set increments make this much easier. What you tend to forget while you do this is that if you could shop around you would most likely find half or more of the items available even cheaper elsewhere.

I know this for a fact as I fell into this trap many, many years ago when my boys were little and Iceland started selling things for £1 each in soem of their freezers. I would go in armed with a ten pound note and choose ten things to fill the freezer space as much as I could, not at the time being savvy enough to realise that if I had visited a few other places that sold frozen foods I could probably have come away with a bit of change from my tenner!!

I do buy value versions of baked beans, chopped tomatoes, pasta, pitta bread, tomato puree and peach slices, so would consider them at 25p but probably not at 50p. I hold out for more expensive versions of tea bags, jam, tuna and ketchup after some bad experiences with the budget options. If it actually helps people save money on their food shopping I'm all in favour, but am concerned it won't be such a cheap option once the introductory offer period is over.

Very little I would buy on that list...maybe the pasta depending on the packet size/weight, maybe chopped tinned toms although I can usually get them around that price locally. I don't tend to buy biscuits etc. I certainly wouldn't pay 50p for either the toms or pasta once the price doubles, I can get both cheaper.

I don't think it would be worth it for me - I might buy tinned tomatoes but nothing else. I make my own jam and like better tea, coffee etc than I'm likely to get there. Wouldn't be worth the queueing for me.

Hi.The foods are highly refined and not high in nutritional value,imo.I think of it as "dead"food.Yes,we have tinned goods in our pantry but they are not the staples in our diet and we try to eat fresh,unrefined and less processed as much as possible.The tinned tomatoes would be bought by me.( only to be used after fresh/fozen have run out)Somewhat off topic:I'm one for keeping food supplies topped up.It's our lifestyle to always have a food/water/dry goods supply and alternate sources of heat in our home in case of unexpected circumstances.Of course the grocery store is just a few minutes away but I do not like to rely on that.They sometimes do not open in severe weather or roads are unnavigable.So it's good to have some extra around "just in case" and to share if needed.We have experienced harsh winters,unpotable water and outages in the past whether we lived in town or country.Self reliance and preparedness is just something that was passed down in our family.( of immigrants from the second world war and therefore take nothing for granted)Bye for now,D.

im not impressed with the easyfood list either, a lot of those items are just as cheap if you buy the everyday value anyway or only a few pence difference certainly not worth getting into a fight for .

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